There's No Corruption Like New Jersey Corruption

Sharpe James, the larger-than-life figure who reigned over Newark, New Jersey for 36 years - 20 as mayor (1986-2006) and 16 on the Municipal Council - was convicted on five counts of fraud and conspiracy last week in a case that centered on James steering city-owned properties to his mistress, who then sold them for a profit of more than $600,000. He faces at least 8 years in prison, and as many as twenty, when he is sentenced in July.

He serves as the latest in a line of Newark mayors who have run afoul of the law. His immediate predecessor, Kenneth A. Gibson (1970-1986), pled guilty to tax fraud in 2002 but did not go to prison. Gibson's predecessor, Hugh J. Addonzio (1962-1970), was convicted in a scheme to take $1.4 million in kickbacks from city contractors and served five years in a federal prison.

James was featured in the unforgettable, 2005 Oscar-nominated documentary, Street Fight - a film that redefined the notion of urban corruption and bare-knuckle machine politics, depicting James as a man who would stoop to anything to retain his power. Mandatory viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in big-city politics.